The Cause of Our Scars
by True Love JALS
Summary: A boy named Natsu, your typical high school boy with a near-perfect life. A girl named Lucy, a standoffish girl with a far from perfect life. One day, they cross paths, and neither of their lives are the same again. A story of love, pain, friendship and family. TW: violence, physical abuse, coarse language and possible NSFW content.


**Hey friends, thank you so much for being there for me. If you're here, I'm assuming you read the older version of this story. I might delete it, I don't know, you guys let me know in the reviews. Anyway, I'm just gonna put it out there that there are gonna be a lot of major changes but the basic plotlines are going to be the same and I won't be able to update very frequently. Anyway, please enjoy the story and give a review :).**

* * *

Natsu walked along an empty hallway and sighed as he looked at the clock on his right. 2:00, it said. Time for Calculus class to start, yet he was in no hurry to get to his destined location. On a drowsy Friday afternoon, last period, he was ready to leave school and go to watch a movie or something, anything to get the hell out of Fairy Tail Academy's doors.

"Fuck it. If Mr. Wakaba sends me to detention because I'm late again, I couldn't give two shits." Natsu groaned silently to himself. As he passed by the principal's office, he slightly turned his head to look in through the windows, trying not to give any indication he was there, to see if the man was out to catch the boy himself. Instead, he unconsciously paused, just to get a good look at her, that girl.

Talking to a short balding old man was a specific someone with golden hair, barely passing the tip of her neck and shagged like soft strings. Her chocolate brown eyes shined in the office light, a type of shine that was beautiful yet looked like they saw the most horrific sights. Her uniform that had been given to her by the school had been properly worn. Most of the other girls Natsu'd seen rolled up their skirts until you could see all of their legs, but hers was down to right above the knee. Her smile as she bowed to Dr. Makarov was small, bright, yet not full. Something about her just caught his eye, nothing like ever before. Before he knew it, Natsu had been caught by the principal who shot him a death glare straight in the eyeballs, breaking his train of thought. The pink-haired boy attempted to inch away little by little, but could not get away from the principal's old hawk eyes.

"MR. DRAGNEEL, IF YOU WIND UP IN MY DETENTION AGAIN I'M GOING TO PACK YOU UP AND SEND YOU OFF TO THE LOONEY BIN! NOW GET YOUR LAZY LITTLE BUTT INTO MY OFFICE THIS INSTANT!" Dr. Makarov pinned himself up against the window and screeched at Natsu, who sighed, knowing that there was no way of escaping.

Natsu solemnly entered the principal's room and stood next to the girl. She looked about his age, possibly slightly younger than him. Natsu turned his eyes to look at her, only to see her quickly turn her head in the other direction and take a single step away from him. Natsu looked out the window that faced the hallway he was in, was she scared of him? She was hunched over and her hands were holding onto some sort of rope tightly. He looked at the rope and noticed it was a small black leash linking to the collar of an adorable little light-coloured golden retriever dog sitting on the grey carpet floor. A red jacket was strapped loosely over the little dog.

_Service dog? Why does she need a service dog? _He thought to himself.

"Don't touch that dog, Mr. Dragneel. He's on duty. I know what you're thinking, boy." Dr. Makarov snapped at the boy, who quickly turned back to the principal.

"Yes sir, I'm not going to pet it." Natsu put his hands up obediently, albeit fighting the urge not to give the little dog many cuddles and coo to it. "So what am I in here for? I could've gotten to class on time."

"You're not being punished, boy. But you will be if you keep up that snarky attitude." Dr. Makarov growled. "Actually, I need you to take Ms. Lucy Heartfilia to class. You both share the same Calculus class, you can take her there now."

"But sir, it's already last block and there's not really much of a point in going at this hour." Natsu smirked and turned to the girl. "Right?"

"I…uh…" Lucy turned away further.

"Education matters, boy!" Dr. Makarov yelled. "It's still school time so get to class now!" He then turned to Lucy and completely changed his attitude. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask this boy over here. His name is Natsu."

"Ok. Thank you, Dr. Makarov." Lucy quickly bowed before exiting the office.

The two walked side by side as Natsu led her to their class. Lucy didn't glance his way one bit yet held onto the leash tight, as if she was on guard. Natsu put his hands on the back of his head, unable to bear the awkward silence.

"So, what made you come to Fairy Tail Academy a couple months into senior year?" Natsu asked. It's pretty rare for students to come at this time, ya know. I mean, it's inconvenient for uni applications, right?" Lucy looked at him a little bit, then turned back to her dog.

"My father made me." She replied silently.

"Hmm? Really? That sounds odd though." Natsu said. "Why did he?"

"It's closer to home, and my old school was getting more expensive." Lucy said straightforwardly.

"What's your dog's name?" Natsu pointed to the little dog.

"His name's Plue and he's a service dog. Please don't pet him, he's on duty." Lucy looked at him while saying this in a serious tone.

"Yeah, I know that." Natsu replied. "I hope you don't mind me asking but why do you need a service dog?" Lucy looked away, tightening her grip on the leash.

"I prefer strangers not to know." Lucy said quietly. Natsu sighed. Normally girls like her would've at least tried to warm up to him, but she was colder than dry ice.

"Luce? Can I call you Luce?" Natsu said with a small smile. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you call me that?" Lucy asked. Natsu then held out his hand.

"So that we can be friends. You want to be friends with me?" He asked warmly.

"Why would you ask that?" Lucy asked, holding the black leash closer to her body.

"I like making friends, that's all. And you…well…you aren't going to have a good time here without many friends. People are nice here but it's hard to get into any friend circles when everyone already knows each other. So why don't you join mine?" Natsu smiled as they stopped in the middle of the hall. Lucy stopped and stared at the hand Natsu was holding out. Natsu really didn't know why he wanted to be her friend, she hadn't really shown any signs of friendliness at all. Yet still he felt a desire to be close to her, reach out to her. He didn't want to hit on her immediately like he usually did with new girls but instead, be close to her. Lucy slowly but surely reached out a small pale hand back to him.

"Sure, why not." Lucy took his hand and slowly shook it. An icy feeling impaled his hand. He looked to the small hand that was in his.

"Wow your hands are ice cold. Must come with the package." Natsu said. Lucy quickly gave a smile before putting her hand back on the leash.

"Hard grip, but not as hard as your head apparently." Lucy quietly shot back. Natsu stared at her with his mouth wide open. "Lead me to class then, friend." Natsu held his hand where the ice cold feeling once was. This girl, this girl was really something else. He rubbed his hands together to create a little bit of warmth then continued to lead her to class.

"So what should I expect from Fairy Tail's Calculus class?" Lucy asked. Natsu looked towards her, she was talking a little more, but still quiet and on guard.

"A snooze fest." Natsu replied calmly.

"No I mean the topics you learn." Lucy clarified. Natsu paused for a bit, then turned back to her.

"...A snooze fest." Natsu replied again. Lucy sighed and rolled her eyes slightly. Natsu then turned to a room to his left. Through the glass on the door, Lucy could see an old man with birch-coloured hair and a huge green jacket moving his mouth as if he was speaking, yet his words falling on deaf ears as nearly half of the class was asleep. The desks were neatly pressed together in pairs and spaced across the room in rows all facing the whiteboard. Natsu loudly slid the door open, startling the sleeping students, jolting up in their seats and pretending to write notes. The old man teaching the classroom glared annoyedly at Natsu.

"Mr. Dragneel, if you want to be late, at least do it silently." Mr. Wakaba growled.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wakaba." Natsu said sarcastically. Mr. Wakaba rolled his eyes and motioned Natsu to sit in his seat. Natsu reluctantly obeyed. The old man then looked to the doorway to see Lucy standing there quietly and shyly.

"Ah, yes. I was told there was going to be a new student." Mr. Wakaba motioned Lucy to stand next to him. He put a hand on her shoulder as he looked at the tired groggy students slumped at their desks. "Everyone, this is a new student. Her name is Lucy Heartfilia. She's also a special needs student and has a service dog with her. Please be kind to her and please remember not to pet her dog." Mr. Wakaba patted Lucy's shoulder and pointed at the empty desk next to a tiny blue-haired girl with a yellow hairband who kindly waved to her with a smile. Lucy smiled with relief as she went to sit next to her.

"Yo." Natsu turned to the boy with icy cold eyes and dark hair sitting at the desk next to him. A small scar resided just above his left eyebrow and his button-down shirt was mostly open exposing his collar bones and parts of his chest, showing off his silver cross necklace.

"What now, Gray? Wanna fight?" Natsu balled his fist in the boy's face.

"Not now, meathead. I'm talking about blondie." Gray motioned towards Lucy who seemed more open talking to the blue-haired shorty. "You were alone with her for a bit weren't ya? Anything happen?"

"Do I look like that much of a scumbag to you? Psh, nothing happened." Natsu replied, swatting his hand in Gray's face.

"That's odd, considering it was you." Gray said smugly, scribbling random lines in his notebook, pretending to be listening to class.

"Asshole." Natsu grunted and pulled out his notebook. As usual, Natsu could not focus in class. The words that came in through his ear always came out the other. But today, he found himself looking over towards Lucy, who looked as though she was actually paying attention. Natsu and Gray sat at the very back of the classroom and the two girls' desks were situated up at the front, so Natsu could only see the back of her head. Once or twice, Lucy would turn her head in his direction but her head would immediately jerk back to the whiteboard up front.

* * *

"FUCK IT ALL, IT'S TIME TO GO HOME!" Natsu stuffed everything he could in his bag and was ready to run out of the classroom.

"Hold up, young man!" Mr. Wakaba boomed. Natsu groaned and turned around to walk through a sea of teenager filing out the door like a herd of sheep. Natsu stood next to Mr. Wakaba's desk. Lucy was there with him, standing silently and solemnly. Mr. Wakaba sat in his chair with his right leg over the other, holding a piece of paper and looking at Natsu with a look of anything other than pleased.

"What is it, Mr.?" Natsu asked.

"Mr. Dragneel, the average grade for passing high school at this Academy is a C. The average grade for staying in the soccer team C-." Mr. Wakaba stated.

"Yeah, and?" Natsu crossed his arms. "I got an A, didn't I?"

"Precisely…the opposite. You got an F on this test!" Mr. Wakaba spun the paper around to show the test results of everyone on the class. Indeed, he got a big fat red F. Everyone else got C's and above, even Gray!

"Wait, are you serious! I pulled an all-nighter to study for this test and I get an F?! Big sad, I'm small brain!" Natsu sniffled.

"Listen up!" Mr. Wakaba barked. Natsu looked up at the older man, who pointed at Lucy. "Since everyone else has extra curricular activities to do during after school hours, I've asked Ms. Heartfilia to be your tutor, since she was the only one available."

"Oh? So Luce is teaching Natsu small brain?" Natsu stood up.

"Ugh, ok kiddos. You guys figure out the tutoring times. Ms. Heartfilia, I told you about the reflections, didn't I?" Mr. Wakaba said.

"Yes sir." Lucy replied assertively yet still quietly.

"Good. Now enjoy your Friday." Mr. Wakaba sighed and waved his hand. The two of them exited the room to find a giant buff teen with giant spiky hair and piercings all over his nose, ears and eyelids standing next to the tiny blue-haired cheerful looking cinnamon roll Lucy sat next to earlier.

"Lu-chan!" The little blue-haired girl waved.

"Ah, Levy-chan." Lucy let out a sigh of relief. She then walked towards the little blue-haired girl, ready to leave the school. She then turned her head to Natsu. "I'm going to talk to Levy-chan for a bit. Can I talk to you about tutoring sessions later?"

"Sure. Just please don't make them too long." Natsu groaned at the thought of tutoring.

"…that's for later to discuss." Lucy stated.

"Sure. I'll meet you at the school gate, then." Natsu replied. Lucy sighed and took off in the other direction with Levy and little Plue. Natsu looked at the two of them confused. Even though the two of them had only just met, this was the first time Natsu had ever seen Lucy smile so calmly, and around someone she'd seemingly had just met.

"What the hell ya doing, gawking at ma little shrimp, eh?" Gajeel wrapped his arm around Natsu's neck.

"Not her, that blondie with the pup." Natsu pointed to Lucy. "Didn't they like, just meet?"

"Nah, shrimp and blondie've been mates since kindergarten. Didn't Levy ever tell ya that?" Gajeel tightened his grip on Natsu's head and gave him an old-fashioned noogie.

"No, her name never came up." Natsu fought Gajeel's giant fist and finally broke free from his tight hold. "Besides, she tells you everything, you're her mans."

"No doubt about that eh." Gajeel chuckled and flung his bag over his shoulder and the two of them made their way to the front gates. "I'm headin' over ta Levy's place today. Ya goin' somewhere today?"

"I have to sort tutoring times with Luce. Who knows, maybe she's going make me Calc some shit on a Friday night." Natsu sighed.

"Ya wanna do it?" Gajeel asked.

"Hell no! But I kinda have to if I wanna stay on the soccer team. Coach has been giving me multiple second chances." Natsu replied.

"Ha, well good luck wit'that." Gajeel smirked as they walked to the Academy's front gate. Lucy and Levy were already there, slightly turned to each other but ready to part ways. Lucy turned around to Natsu, her smile fading slightly as she looked at him. Levy, however, beamed at the sight of her man. Gajeel immediately ditched the pinkie next to him to embrace his little shrimp.

"Well, gotta get goin'. See ya, Salamander." Gajeel grinned and turned in the other direction with Levy. Natsu then turned to Lucy, who just shrugged her shoulders.

"So? You want to talk about tutoring sessions?" Lucy asked.

"I don't wanna, but I kinda have to." Natsu groaned and shrugged his shoulders. "You wanna head over to my place so we can talk?" Lucy sighed and fiddled with the leash in her hands.

"I'd rather not go to strangers' houses on the first day I meet them." Lucy stated.

"We're not strangers, Luce, we're friends." Natsu grinned.

"Yeah, ok." Lucy said. "Look, we can go to Magnolia Park where we can be seen but I'm not going to your house, ok."

"Ok sure, if that's what you want." Natsu put his hands in his pockets and walked by her side as they walked off to Magnolia Park.

As they walked together silently, Natsu kept peering over at Lucy, who seemed to not be paying attention to him, only to the sakura trees that had long died when spring was over, as if with sadness and longing that the beautiful flowers would come back.

"The sakura trees really were pretty this year, you know." Natsu said. Lucy blinked twice, breaking out of her trance to look at Natsu. She then looked back at the trees ahead.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You know, there's a legend that the trees here are actually rainbow coloured. All you gotta do is make sure every light in the city is turned off so it's pitch black. Then the sakura blossoms will glow all kinds of different colours." Natsu replied with a smile. "One time we wanted to do that, but the government refused to turn off the streetlights, said it was too dangerous, so we opted to throw rocks at the lights. Damn near got caught doing it."

"Rainbow sakura? That doesn't seem scientifically possible." Lucy stated.

"Well, didn't hurt to take a look, did it?" Natsu laughed.

"Hm. Maybe." Lucy shrugged. She turned to her right to see a bright newly painted bench, to which she dusted off to make room for her to sit. "Natsu, there's room here." Lucy patted on the spot next to her, motion Natsu to sit down. He happily obliged and lazily plonked his butt onto the seat. Lucy pulled out a pretty pink notebook with a lily print on it.

"Natsu, I'm available all days of the week. When do you want to do your tutoring sessions?" Lucy asked.

"Honestly, I don't wanna do them at all." Natsu stated. "But I'll take them only because you're teaching them." Natsu leaned over to Lucy and grinned in her face. Lucy's stone-cold expression did not change.

"Ok. When _can_ you do tutoring sessions?" Lucy rephrased herself.

"Let's see…soccer practice is Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, so I can't do those days." Natsu scratched his cheek with his index finger in thought as Lucy wrote down the things he said. "Can't do Fridays because that's movie night with the fam…" Natsu's eyes widened as he got an idea. "Hey Luce, wanna come to movie night with me?"

"I told you, I don't go to people's houses I just meet." Lucy replied.

"Wow, Luce. A seventeen-year-old high schooler who can't pass Calc is totally a serial killer. Besides, you could get to know me better and I can get to know you better too." Natsu said with a smile. "I wanna be friends with you, Lucy, that's all." Lucy stared at his friendly smile, his warm eyes. She looked down at his hands, which had migrated to the bench, supporting him as he leans over to Lucy. She looked down at her own hands, remembering the warmth she'd felt when she'd touched them. His hands were not just warm, but a burning warmth that seemed to cuddle the coldness out of her icy hands. Lucy looked back to Natsu, who was still smiling eagerly at her. She sighed.

"Are you done listing days you're available?" Lucy asked.

"Yup, I think so." Natsu nodded.

"Ok." Lucy put her notebook back into her bag and flung it over her shoulder.

"Wait, where are you going?" Natsu asked, confused. Lucy paused for a moment and looked in the other direction.

"Somewhere." Lucy replied coldly and oddly unsure.

"You don't wanna come to my place and watch a movie?" Natsu said sadly.

"I still don't know you very well, Natsu. You seem nice enough…for a person…but we just met this afternoon. Maybe some other time." Lucy tugged on Plue's leash and they headed in the other direction. Natsu sighed, defeated. For the first time in a while, he'd platonically asked a girl outside his friend group to watch a movie with him and she was ice cold to him, just like her hands. Natsu still felt that piercing feeling on the palm on his hand. Natsu grabbed his bag and headed home, not wanting to miss out on a good movie.

* * *

Natsu clumsily slammed open the door to his home and loudly dropped his heavy bag onto the wooden floor.

"MA~PA~ I LIVED!" Natsu called out lazily.

"Congratulations." Igneel, the redheaded father of Natsu, groaned sarcastically. His fiery orange eyes glued to his laptop as he sat by the kitchen table, his red hair undercut drooping down behind his reading glasses.

"Natsu, learn some darn manners and put your bag in a place where no one's gonna fall and break their silly neck!" Grandeeney, Natsu's mother barked. Her long silver hair tied in a loose ponytail over her left shoulder and her icy-blue eyes glared straight at Natsu. As soon as he picked up his bag, her face softened into a sweet smile and she went back to reading her book next to her husband. Just as Natsu was taking off his shoes, a small 12-year-old girl with her long blue hair tied into two pigtails wearing a red school uniform and long thigh-high black socks came running up the stairs from the basement.

"Natsu-nii! Natsu-nii!" the little girl Wendy, Natsu's younger sister, grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him towards the basement.

"What is it?" Natsu compliantly followed her to the basement.

"It's Happy and Charle's kittens! They're walking now!" The two of them crouched down by a large green blanket. Two cats, a greyish blue tabby cat and a white Persian cat were lying down watching as their three kittens wandered around on the blanket clumsily, tripping over and tumbling around on the soft green blanket.

"Oh my god, this is actually adorably." Natsu gently scooped up one of the little kittens and stroked it, Wendy doing the same.

"Should we give them names?" Wendy asked as she gave the little kitten as kiss.

"Maybe, just so we so we know the difference between them because honestly, I cannot tell." Natsu replied.

"Natsu-nii! It's so obvious!" Wendy laughed and pointed to the one Natsu was holding. "That one is a boy and all white…" She pointed to the one she picked up "This one is a girl and a pure tabby…" Then pointed to the one that went to suckle on its mother's breast "And that one is a girl white cat with a tabby tail." Natsu paused as he realized he just had a small brain moment, one of many he had ever had in his life.

"Ok, let's just give them names because I'm small brain and still can't differentiate them." Natsu laughed.

"Ok, ok." Wendy giggled. She pursed her lips and turned her eyes up in thought while she played with the little kitten tumbling around in her lap, trying to figure out how to use its legs. "How about…Snowflake for the white one…Stripy for the tabby and…Alien for the one with the tabby tail?"

"Such basic names." Natsu said.

"Makes life easier, yo." Wendy replied and put the kitten back on the blanket. Natsu did the same.

"You wanna get started on our movie? You get to pick this time." Natsu asked and ruffled her hair.

"But shouldn't we wait for Zeref to come home?" Wendy said.

"Nah, we're good. No one needs to wait for that emo weirdo." Natsu scoffed and placed the kitten back on the blanket next to Charle.

"But he comes home today, we can't watch a movie without him." Wendy fidgeted with her dark blue hair. "Besides it's movie _night_ not movie _afternoon."_

_"_Eh, who cares. You don't have any classes tomorrow, right?" Natsu stated.

"I do, actually." Wendy chuckled. "And don't you have something called Calc? Oh by the way, how was that test you studied for?"

Natsu paused for a moment, sweating profusely. "…an F…again."

"Hahaha, silly Natsu-nii, I hope you're going to fix that." Wendy grinned widely.

"Yeah…I guess…Oh right. Speaking of that, there's this new transfer student that came today. Wakaba got her to be my tutor." Natsu stated and patted his little tabby cat Happy.

"Her…she…" Wendy looked over her brother's shoulder. Seeing there was no one behind him, her eyes widened. "Are you gonna have an invisible girlfriend?"

"What? No, no! Where did you get that idea?" Natsu scrunched his nose.

"Where did I get that idea? I don't know. Maybe from the fact that every time you mention a girl, it's followed by -friend?" Wendy replied.

"What? No! That's totally not true!" Natsu said.

"Ok, name one girl who you have as a friend." Wendy crossed her arms.

"Levy, Juvia, Erza-"

"Who's not already taken!" Wendy interrupted. Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but slowly closed it back up to realize that his little sister, who knew little to nothing about his relationships with other girls, was telling the truth.

"Kids, if you're not going to watch a movie until Zeref gets back, you might as well get your chores done!" Grandeeney called from the entrance of the basement. Natsu took a deep breath and sighed in disappointment, hoping to get out of a chore day with a movie.

"Yes, Ma." Wendy called back.

"Natsu, you get the laundry done and wash the car. Wendy dear, make sure your cats get enough nutrition then scrub the toilet." Grandeeney walked off.

* * *

"I've returned home, mother, father." Zeref slowly opened the door with his large black duffel bag. He gently placed it in the living room corner out of the way and walked into the kitchen to give each of his parents a short quick hug.

"Welcome back, honey. How was uni?" Grandeeney asked as she gently tossed the last bag of popcorn into the microwave and gave her eldest son a kiss on the cheek.

"Awful as usual. Professor hates thinking outside the box. The modern education system is killing creativity." Zeref replied nonchalantly.

"How's that?" Grandeeney asked, confused yet used to Zeref's random strange words.

"I want to go deeper into the studies of death, why people die, how people die, what really is death, is there really an afterlife and the mind's state before and in death etcetera. Yet Professor does not seem to approve of my project." Zeref sat down on the kitchen table next to his father with a glass of milk. "Mavis is the only person who seems to care."

"Seems to be that way." Grandeeney smiled.

"By the way, how's the little gremlin and little angel doing?" Zeref asked.

"Both are fine." Grandeeney replied and took the popcorn out of the microwave. "Oh, speaking of which, Wendy wanted to wait until you came home to start movie night."

"Did she, now?" Zeref smiled.

"Yup. I'll get them now." Grandeeney put the popcorn on the table and opened the door to the garage. "Natsu dear, movie night can start!" Grandeeney called briskly and left for the basement door. "Wendy darling, your brother's home." Natsu entered the house first, his dress shirt and grey pants wet with water and soap suds.

"Oh it's you." Natsu wiped his hand on his shirt to collect some ammunition and flung it in Zeref's face before running up the stairs to change into dry clothes, knowing someone would yell at him for dirtying the couch. Wendy came charging up the basement stairs and into her eldest brother's arms.

"Zeref! You're back!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Good to see you too, Wendy." Zeref ruffled her hair. "How's 7th Grade?"

"Awesome! Romeo didn't fail me in a group project for once!" Wendy replied.

"Did he actually do work this time?" Zeref asked.

"Yep! Now I don't have to worry about getting a B on my report card." Wendy smiled.

"Little miss Perfect." Zeref chuckled as Natsu came down the stairs in an orange and white shirt with red shorts.

"Oi, who's picking the movie this week?" Natsu said as he was cleaning his ear with his pinkie finger.

"First of all, do not touch my popcorn with your grubby little mitts…" Zeref point at Natsu, who looked confused as he wiped his finger on his shirt. "Second, I think it's Wendy's turn to pick this week."

"Let's watch the new live-action Aladdin movie. My friends said it was amazing and Dad just happened to get me the DVD today!" Wendy suggested.

"He what?" Natsu turned to Igneel in disbelief. "Then why didn't you get Endgame as well?!"

Igneel looked up from his computer screen. "Wendy is a child who genuinely tries her best in school and at home, she deserves a reward for her efforts and I just happened to be at the DVD store." He stated. "You on the other hand…"

"Ok fine, Pa." Natsu groaned as his two siblings cheerfully filed down into the basement where the big screen TV was.

* * *

"This song is new, but it's hecking amazing!" Wendy cheered and stuffed the last of the popcorn into her little mouth. "I think I like Jasmine's character better than I did in the original!"

"Naomi Scott's voice _is _pretty good." Zeref said calmly and looked into the popcorn bag. "We're out of snacks. Natsu, do you mind going to the store and getting us something?"

"Come on, it's almost the end of the movie and with the amount of soda's we've had, I could flood this whole house with pee." Natsu groaned.

"Please, just some chips? Plus, we can save it for the next movie night!" Wendy pleaded. "We'll pause the movie for you too." Natsu sighed, trying not to fall prey to her innocent puppy-dog eyes.

"Ok fine." Zeref tossed a 20 dollar bill at Natsu as he trudged up the basement stairs.

The cool summer breeze blew through the empty Magnolia Park at night. Despite it being the perfect scene for someone to commit a crime, Natsu felt more lonely than scared. He could only think of Lucy, the quiet girl from earlier in the day. The empty park reminded him of her. Many single girls Natsu'd talked to were always trying get as close to him as possible and he always tended to those desires, yet Lucy almost seemed to want to stay far away from him. Even though he wanted to be close with her, it didn't feel as desperate and longing as usual.

Natsu broke out of his train of thought and continued to stroll his way to the store. As he approached the nearly empty convenience store, he noticed a single person sitting on the stairs with their face buried in their arms as they hugged their knees close as if like an egg, keeping the cold breeze out. Natsu glanced in confusion, thinking they were a hobo. There weren't many in the neighbourhood so the rare sight of one sitting in front of a convenience store made the young teen curious.

As he got closer, he noticed some familiar blonde hair and a familiar school uniform with a pair of black leggings underneath a long skirt. Sleeping next to her was a familiar golden retriever puppy. _Could it? Wait, it couldn't be…_Natsu thought to himself. The boy slowly approached her, trying to avoid getting himself embarrassed if he found the wrong person. "Excuse me?" he said with his hands in his pocket, acting in a nonchalant manner. The supposed hobo slowly lifted her head and he was right; it was Lucy.

"Natsu? What are you doing here?" Lucy's quivering voice asked. Her eyes were puffy and red, but she quickly tried to hide it with a couple strands of hair.

"Right back at ya, Luce. You waiting for someone?" Natsu asked.

"Doesn't matter." Lucy rubbed her eyes. "So why are _you_ here?"

"Ran outta snacks and my sister wants me to get more." Natsu replied, sitting down next to her. Lucy inched closer to her little dog, turning away from Natsu. "You sure you ok, Luce? You look like you were crying."

"I said it doesn't matter." Lucy retorted.

"You sure?" Natsu asked.

"Yes. You can go get your snacks if you want now." Lucy said. Natsu didn't feel he should leave her alone in the dark, but he decided to anyway. Their silence was interrupted but a low grumbling noise that seemed to scream for help. Natsu paused for a moment, thinking it was himself. But then he turned back to Lucy, who's head was facing in the opposite direction. Natsu tilted his head and inched closer to her.

"Was…that you?" Natsu asked, stifling a chuckle.

"No. Just go get your snacks and leave." Lucy hunched her back, trying hard to cover her face.

"That was you, wasn't it?" A wide smile spread across Natsu's face, still trying to contain his laughter.

"I said it wasn't! Seriously!" Lucy jerked her head towards Natsu and glared at him, her face red with embarrassment, which glowed brighter when a loud growl came from her stomach, louder than the original. By this point, Natsu gave in no effort to hiding his laughter while Lucy hid her face.

"Don't deny it, Luce. Your stomach makes the loudest noises I've heard since Terminator 2." Natsu was now roaring with laughter. "You…hahaha…you want me to get you something?"

Lucy sighed in defeat. "Sure, why not." She slowly stood, taking a deep breath. Lucy tugged on Plue's leash and they followed Natsu into the store.

The two wandered around the store; Natsu exploring the chips section and Lucy heading straight for the onigiri section. The pink-haired boy grabbed a couple packs of the family-size Doritos and turned to look at the girl, who had already grabbed a single rice-ball pack and was looking in the makeup aisle. Natsu, with packs of chips filling his arms, walked over to her.

"You need anything else?" He asked. Lucy looked at him and quickly grabbed something.

"Oh yes, um. Sorry to ask this of you, but could you buy me this concealer?" Lucy held a tube that was the same colour as her pale complexion. "It's just, I don't have any money on me at the moment and I really need this. It's the cheap kind so I hope it doesn't bother you too much."

"Ok…I won't question why you _really_ need this but…sure alright." Natsu took the tube of concealer and her rice-ball in his free hand. The man at the register handed him a fabric bag with his items and the two left the store.

"Here." Natsu handed Lucy her things as they slowly ambled in the park.

"Thanks." Lucy stuffed the concealer into her bag. She immediately opened the pack and began to stuff her face. Even though she was clearly trying to shove everything in, Lucy still tried her best to eat slowly as if it was just a leisurely snack.

"Just out of curiosity, why aren't you home if you need food?" Natsu asked.

"Please don't ask me anymore questions. As I said before, it doesn't matter." Lucy's defensive tone rising again.

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry, didn't mean to make you mad." Natsu held up his hands in surrender. The two fell silent for a while. "…so…you wanna come back to my place to watch a movie?"

"Why would I?" Lucy ate the last of her rice-ball and stuffed the wrapper into her bag.

"Well it just doesn't seem like you're going to go anywhere soon and since you don't seem to actually have anything to do at the moment, you might as well come over and watch Aladdin with us." Natsu suggested. Lucy bit her thumbnail and began lightly chewing as her other arm wrapped itself around her belly, silently, not looking at Natsu. She hunched her shoulders and gave a slight shrug.

"Sure…why not." Lucy mumbled. "At this point, anywhere is better than home."

Natsu glanced at her with confusion "What-"  
"Nothing." Lucy quickly cut him off. Natsu tilted his head, wanting to ask about what she'd just said. The words were in his mouth, ready to be released out into the open for Lucy to hear, but he kept them inside, something he'd never done before.

* * *

"Welcome to the Dragneel Lair, where dragons live and only I die." Natsu swung the door open and lazily strutted in with Lucy trailing close behind him, looking around the tight cozy home with blank eyes. Lucy placed her hands over her chest and rubbed her arms, feeling the cool temperature in the house. Summer evenings were warm with refreshing wind, but still felt the sun's indirect heat burning the earth. Despite this, Lucy felt warmer inside the air-conditioned house.

"It…it's so warm in here." Lucy whispered.

"Oh, you need me to turn down the AC?" Natsu asked.

"It's fine, actually. I like it this way." Lucy said.

"Who are you talking to, Natsu?" Igneel called from the living room as he and his wife walked out to greet the new guest.

"Ah, this is Luce from school." Natsu gestured towards the girl next to him, who was fidgeting her fingers and had her shoulders hunched.

"I hope I'm not intruding on you movie night." Lucy nodded her head politely.

"Oh no, it's totally fine. We welcome any of Natsu's girlfriends." Grandeeney said with a sweet smile.

"Oh, uh…I'm just a friend." Lucy stated. The two parents glanced at each other quickly before turning back to Natsu, who had his hands in his pockets and looked askance.

"Um…of course." Grandeeney smiled with a slight uncertainty in her eyes.

"Anyway, uh…the basement's this way." Natsu pointed in its direction. Lucy hunched her shoulders and slowly made her way down to the dark room with a single bright light source. Natsu followed closely at her heel.

"Hey guys, guess who I picked up from the sidewalk?" Natsu called to his siblings.

"You didn't pick me up, I followed out of my own free will." Lucy muttered.

"Your sense of dignity?" Zeref called back, not taking his eyes off his little book.

"Ass wipe." Natsu hissed at him. "No, I brought my new tutor from school, Luce."

"It's Lucy, actually." She corrected him quietly. Wendy turned around to see the shy teen. Wendy slowly got up, eyes not making contact and her face slightly pink.

"W-welcome to our house, Ms. Lucy." Wendy politely bowed. She then eyed Plue, her eyes widened slightly and turned to the other room in a panic, where the kittens were. To her relief, the door was closed.

"Lucy is fine, and thank you." She nodded quickly

"Oh ok." Wendy said. "Also…the dog…he's a he right? Does he bite?"

"Plue? No, he couldn't hurt a fly." Lucy replied. Wendy noticed his red vest and opened her mouth to say something, but sat back down as Natsu plonked the bag onto the floor in front of the couch. Lucy looked around anxiously and spotted a lonely armchair next to the couch that the three Dragneels sat on. As Natsu made his way to his old spot, Lucy slowly sat herself into the armchair.

"Have you seen this movie, Lucy? If you haven't we can start from the beginning if you like." Zeref asked gently.

"Oh no, it's fine, I don't want to impose." Lucy replied.

"FYI, Jasmine got her own empowerment song that we just finished watching. It's dope, you should check it out on YouTube if you want." Natsu said lazily.

"Oooh, Speechless is such an amazing song! I could listen to it all day!" Wendy squealed.

"Now let's keep watching." Natsu clicked the play button.

* * *

Natsu and Lucy walked silently down the chilly path of Magnolia Park. The dark sky clearly showed the time of night, but the bright streetlamps prevented any stars from shining. Lucy looked up, and took a deep breath.

"You know, you didn't have to walk me home." Lucy said.

"It's almost midnight. You think I'd let you walk yourself home?" Natsu raised his eyebrows. "Unless you are lowkey an MMA fighter." He gently elbowed her and grinned.

"Do I look like one?" Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Hehe, yeah you're right." Natsu laughed. "By the way, where did you say you lived again?"

"…just somewhere around the block. You can leave me here and I can walk home by myself." Lucy stated.

"Nah, I can walk you home. It's not that hard, really." Natsu put his hands on the back of his neck. "Besides, you're fun to walk with, Luce."

"Am I though? Am I?" Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Do you see me laughing?"

"But you see me laughing!" Natsu laughed out loud. Lucy sighed and moved her hair out of her face.

"What makes you think that I'm going to give you my address?" Lucy said.

"Well, I mean you are my tutor now. Unless you want to come over to my place instead, I'm gonna have to know where you live." Natsu stated, wriggling his eyebrows smugly.

"Ugh stop it." Lucy rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. "I live somewhere on Diamond Street. I'm not going to tell you what number though."

"Whoa, Diamond Street?!" Natsu gasped. "Isn't that where all the fancy estates are?"

"Don't ask about it if you already know." Lucy huffed. Natsu sighed and instead just calmly walked beside her without saying another word. Lucy looked towards the pink-haired boy, with a radiant smile, staring up at the starless sky. He noticed her staring at her and gave her a grin. Lucy did not return the smile, simply turning away. Her eyes fell onto a dark fancily-decorated metal sign. _Diamond St. _it said.

"I think you can just leave me here now." Lucy said and turned to Natsu. "Thanks for walking me back, you really didn't need to." She nodded politely.

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow then? My place?" Natsu asked.

"Sure." Lucy shrugged and turned away.

"Oh, wait Luce! Do you even have my number?" Natsu said.

"Um…no I don't think so." Lucy replied and pulled out her phone to hand to Natsu. He punched in the numbers. "Great, I'll call you tomorrow then." Lucy waved and slowly walked off, Plue in tow. Natsu sighed with a slight smile and walked off, looking behind his shoulder at her once in a while.

* * *

"I guess this is it, Plue." Lucy looked at the large fancy door of her house. "Let's just, get it over with…yeah…" Lucy coughed, to which Plue noticed and nudged her thighs with his soft nose. "Yeah, I know." Lucy pulled out her inhaler and sprayed once and took two deep breaths. She repeated this action and slowly put the inhaler back. Lucy took another deep breath and slowly but quietly, opened the front door.

The large living room behind the door reeked of hard liquor and a large blond man was snoring loudly on the couch. Lucy tiptoed across the large room, her breath quickened and beads of sweat formed on her forehead, not just from the neglect of air-conditioning.

Lucy spotted the elevator from across the room, not too far away. Sighing with relief, she started to run towards it. Unfortunately, her carelessness caused her to create a loud cracking sound at her feet. Lucy froze, looking down at her feet. _Wine. _The snoring stopped.

Before she could turn around, a huge pain shot up her right cheek, sending her flying to the ground. Lucy felt a salty hot liquid in her mouth and spat it out. Even though it was dark, she knew exactly what it was.

"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. Coming…home at this…hour?" Lucy's father slurred his words as he dragged Lucy's short blond hair, pulling her up. "Explain your bullshit reason!"

"F-Father…" Hot tears spilled out of her eyes in pain. Plue growled and lunged at the man, biting his arm.

"Damn dog! Go fuck yourself!" He kicked Plue to the side and roughly grabbed the scruff of his neck and threw him out the door. He came back and snatched Lucy's hair in his hand. "I come home for the first time in months and THIS is how you repay me?! By coming home late at night just to avoid your dear loving father?!" He smashed the wine bottle in his hand on Lucy's head and threw her into the shards. Lucy squeaked in pain, trying hard not to make any noise, but it was heard loud and clear.

"You like that, you piece of shit daughter!" He screamed. "Well eat this!" He kicked her in the stomach. Lucy spat out more blood as he proceeded to repeatedly kick her. Just then, the front door clicked and in walked a short old purple haired lady carrying groceries and Lucy's dog limping. She immediately dropped her bags at the sight of Lucy of the ground and ran towards the large towering man.

"Stop it, Jude! Stop it!" She grabbed onto the man's broken bottle-wielding arm, trying to hold him back, but she was instead, thrown back like a fly.

"You're just a servant! Shut the fuck up and learn your place!" Jude roared and threw the broken bottle onto Lucy's body before swaying a bit and tripping his way over to the front door. "I'm…going to the…fucking bar." Jude slammed the door behind him. Lucy looked towards the servant helplessly.

"Ms. Spetto…" Lucy cried as the old lady ran towards her, helping her up as the Golden Retriever furiously licked his owner.

"There, there…" She held the young blonde's arm, covered with blood and glass shards.

"Ahh….ahh…" Lucy hissed in pain, more tears coming from her eyes. Ms. Spetto took a deep breath and proceeded to pull out the glass shards in Lucy's arm, earning her a yelp with each shard she pulled. Ms. Spetto took the girl in her arms and pressed the button for the elevator.

"Now you just go and wash up while I prepare the first aid kit, alright dear?" Ms. Spetto softly patted Lucy's shoulder as she helped her to the bathroom inside Lucy's room. Lucy hobbled her way over to the bathroom, her loyal dog ready to catch her if she fell. She slowly closed the door behind her and turned on the tap, setting it to warm. Lucy took off her blazer and unbuttoned her shirt, then proceeded to wash her face, looking at herself in the mirror. Her fingers fell to the greenish black and blue spot on her eye, an old bruise. Wearing only her bra and her skirt, she washed her arms, the sink water turning into a creamy colour, as more injuries slowly revealed themselves.

Lucy stared at her face, gazing straight back at her with empty eyes. The spot where her father had just punched her was starting to form into another bruise. Lucy stretched her lips into a thin, forced smile.

"Heh. Hello there, you piece of shit daughter." Lucy waved to her reflection.


End file.
